The Littlest Aircraft Carriers

In the 100 years that navies have taken airplanes to sea, there have been some truly creative methods employed to get an organic aircraft capability onto ships.  Barges towed behind destroyers.  Launching platforms on the turrets of battleships.  Explosive catapults on the bows of merchant ships.  Submarines with floatplanes.  Merchantmen with a rudimentary flight deck laid over their cargo areas.  The list could go on forever, but none of them were really a success.

During the Allied invasion of Sicily, there was a need for artillery spotting airplanes.  The usual plane used, the L-4 Grasshopper (better known in civilian use as the famous Piper Cub), didn't have the range to actually fly to Sicily from Allied bases, and aircraft carriers decks were too valuable to ferry them there.  Having them transported in a knocked-down state was possible, but it was time-consuming to have to put them back together.  Knowing all this, a US Army pilot named Captain Brenton Devol, suggested a solution: put a flight deck on a LST.  And lo, was the tiniest aircraft carrier created.

LST-386 was fitted with a flight deck made of timber and pierced metal runway mats.  It measured 216 feet long by 12 feet wide, and it took just over 36 hours to build.  It could carry four Grasshoppers, plus its normal load of cargo and troops in her tank deck. 

The conversion was so successful that five or six other LSTs were fitted with their own flight decks.  As time went on, the design was refined to allow nine Grasshoppers to be carried.  Four of them, shown above, were carried on minuscule ramps, while the other five were on a platform just ahead of the bridge.  The LST would go as fast as she could into the wind, usually winding up with a 20kt breeze to aid the L-4s into the air.  The lightweight plane would fairly skip into the sky with that amount of help.  Accidents were not unheard of, but all in all the LSTCV was a successful and useful design.

However, these LST conversions could not be considered true aircraft carriers.  There was no provision for recovering the L-4s after launch; the planes would have to land behind friendly lines after takeoff.  Considering the short-field capabilities of the Piper Cub, one could imagine a scenario where the LST would steam backwards while a white-knuckled pilot tried to land on the narrow pitching deck.  It could work, but it seems unlikely.

But out in the Pacific theatre, something different was invented... something that was allowed a LST to become a true aircraft carrier.  This something was called the Brodie Device.

more...

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GAH!!!

The alarm went off at its usual time this morning, and after dragging myself out of bed and doing the usual things one does after one wakes up, I pressed the power button on my computer (Chiyo-chan).  Settling into my computer chair, I watched "I'm booting up" stuff go by on the monitor... until the Windows splash screen popped up, and I saw this:

Well, crap.  That's a dead graphics card, sure as god made little green martians.  Obviously, I was going to have to remove that dying card (nearly five years old)... but while I installed the card in the first place, I've never removed a graphics card.  I didn't know what I was going to have to do... just yank it out and plug the monitor into the onboard graphics adapter?  Remove the drivers?  Boil water and tear bedsheets? 

Once I got to the Duck U Bookstore, a quick googlesearch turned up diddly.  The question may as well have never been asked before.  So I shot an e-mail to friend GreyDuck, a computer guy of some repute, asking for help (or as I put it, "HALP!!!"), and he responded with flying colors.  A phone call from The Boss's husband also steered me in the right direction... just pull the card out and cross your fingers.

One broken PCIx16 retention clip later, the card was out and I was running on glorious onboard graphics... and I discovered something I had forgotten.  Namely, onboard graphics are crepe on a stick, particularly when mated to a LCD monitor that doesn't run at one of the available resolutions.  I can only just barely run a anime mkv (12 frames a second, maybe?)... which means I need to get a new GPU as soon as I can.

But at least Chiyo-chan works again.  That's the main thing.  So thanks, GreyDuck and Boss's Husband!  Much appreciated, both of you!

UPDATE:  There's this thing that you can do with a computer called "restart."  Perhaps you've heard of it?  It shuts down the computer then gets it running again... including such things like your graphics card drivers that allow you to set the resolution to something that doesn't make your eyes bleed.  It also installs D3DX9, which allows you to actually watch things larger than 1mb in size.  Useful thing, that.  It also means that, unless I suddenly have this burning need to play Fallout 3, I can live without a GPU until I actually have a modicum of funds.  Pity I didn't think about this whole restart thing sooner, my eyes might not have fallen out.

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A Duck At The Races

It's not a secret to anybody who's read this blog for more than two minutes or so that your charming host and proprietor, yours truly, Wonderduck, is a fan of motorsports of the four-wheeled persuasion.  While I am, first and foremost, a devotee of Formula 1, I've been known to enjoy the occasional NASCAR race... particularly the four that take place at Daytona and Talladega.  I also think that the truck series is great fun, more in the spirit (if not the letter) of "run what you brung" than just about anything out there.

It's also not a secret that I have an affinity for ducks of all sorts, rubber ducks prevailing.  For years, I have been rather covetous of the one rubber duck that combines both of those passions into one glorious package.  Today, that one duck was delivered.  Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the newest member of The Flock...

...DUCKTONA!  And his pit crew, Guido and Luigi!  Ducktona is another in the long line of "boutique ducks" from Rubbaducks,  and it's great to finally have him in the collection.  After all, I think I had him as my header picture for a while, why shouldn't he be here?  His absence has long been a nagging irritant for me... but no more.  The preeminent racing duckie has graced us with his presence, and all is right with The Pond.

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Good Way To End A Bad Day

Last night, there were nightmares running through the slumbering head of Wonderduck.  One of them involved a pirate ship, another I remember no details about, and one... well, it was so bad that I don't even like admitting to myself that even had the thing, for fear of bringing the memories of it back.

There was also freezing rain last night, so this morning the Duckmobile looked like a glazed donut, if the glaze was a quarter-inch thick.  Of course I had to scrape that ice off before I could go to work, so I started putting some serious grunt into it.  It turns out the ice wasn't just on the car... and in my quest for leverage, my feet went out from underneath me.  On my way down to the ice-covered asphalt, the passenger-side mirror leaped out and punched me in the side of the head with what I distinctly remember as a rather hollow-sounding "clonk."

So I worked the entire day at Duck U with a sore skull that was full of bad thoughts.  Then I came home and found this:

...and suddenly, the day doesn't seem so bad.

UPDATE:  Then to make it all even better, I got my third FARK greenlight in just over a month with this video: Every so often, one could almost be convinced that there is a God. This is one of those times.

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Behind The Curtain

Over at The Fungus, friend Ed is having some problems.  His mother passed away a few months ago, and a lot of what he's talking about sounds very familiar.  Over there, I left a comment on a different post about how the most surprising things can sneak up and bite you when you least expect it.  If you're interested, read on... if you're not, enjoy the cute girl and rest assured that there will be another episodic review of Rio Rainbow Gate! coming soon.

more...

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The Turtles Need YOU!

Yes, YOU!  I'm sure you never thought you'd be called to be a ninja, but your time has come.  It's time for you to join Star Turtle and become a robot-fightin', cathedral-eatin', whale-tossin', zombie-killin', kaiju-smackin'-downin', burger-eatin' foo'!

"But it's not for me," I hear you saying.  "I don't even like ninjas."  I'm here to tell ya, brudda, I was once like you.  I hated ninjas!  They're usually tough and stringy, and not even all the barbeque sauce in Duckford would make 'em any different.  But now here I am, 10 seasons in, a respected member of Star Turtle Realm, feared by some and respected by many. 

AND YOU CAN BE, TOO!  Just click on the banner, brudda, and get playin' with us in Star Turtle!  We'll help you with ninja puppets, bear coats, potions, dartboards and even invisible sandwiches!  And soon, you'll be just like me... a duck with a dream*.  A dream, and an insatiable desire to see your face carved onto the side of a mountain somewhere.  It costs nothing, and if you don't like it, you've lost nothing at all... what have you got to lose?  Give it a try, won't you?  For the Turtles?

*_{Except probably not the duck part.}

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TGB S16E04

This week's TGB was something of a shoe-in.

See, when I attended Duck U., I went to school with someone who looked exactly like her.  So there you are.  The rest of the episode was pretty entertaining as well, by the way... particularly the film about the Pagani Zonda R.

Yes, that.  Sure, it isn't street-legal (no turn indicators, slick tires only), and sure, you could probably only run it on certain tracks here in the US, but hey!  It's cheap at $1.8 million dollars, and nobody knows how fast it can go because they've never been able to max it out.  A 750hp V12 engine in a car that weighs just under 2400 lbs will do that, yeah.  It went around the Top Gear test track in 1:08, far and away the fastest production car ever to turn a lap.  Of course, since it's not street legal, it didn't count.  For comparison's sake, a Renault F1 racer did the track in just over 59 seconds...

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TGB S16E03

Those of you with a good memory might have remembered that two weeks ago, I began a series entitled TGB, standing for "Top Gear Babe".  In that post, I said that the producers intentionally stock the front row of audience with at least one strikingly good looking woman during the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and News segments.  I have since discovered that someone at Top Gear reads The Pond, because in S16E02... they didn't.  Not once.  Ha ha, good joke lads.

Fortunately for me, they reverted to trend this week... in fact, they did so in spades.  So much so that I had something of a quandary on my hands.  But first, I'm going to award a Dishonorable Mention... to this woman:

Under normal circumstances, she would have been the winner.  However, she somehow managed to get in shot for three different segments (twice with jacket on, once with it off), something entirely unheard of.  I figure that she must be the girlfriend of someone on the TG crew.  If you apply "Cool Wall" rules to this situation, she would have to go into the "seriously uncool" section... after all, if one of the presenters actually owns the car being considered for the Cool Wall, it automatically is "seriously uncool."  So, no award for you, young lady.

This lass appeared during the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her... perhaps because she's as well lighted as Clarkson.  Has anybody on TG ever learned how to focus a lighting instrument?  Again, under normal circumstances, she's be the winner.  But this was no ordinary week.  No, this time around I had no option but to give the award to...

...this young woman from Albania.  Since the guys were doing their car comparison in Albania, this seems to be completely appropriate.  I hear she likes cars...

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Snowmageddon 2011: 2/2, 845am (UPDATED @ 1242pm)

I'm not the sort of person who swears very often.  Unlike many people these days, I believe that using profanity in everyday conversation is vulgar and childish... and I never use it here at The Pond.  No, when I use an unpleasant word, it shows a moment of very high emotion.  I'm explaining that so you really understand what I'm about to say.

Holy SHIT.

The picture above was taken at 1am.  That red line stretching toward the tree is from a laser pointer... a clearly visible beam that stretched all the way to the tree.  It was visible because of the snow coming down and passing through the beam, basically like what you'd get if you blew smoke into the laser.  Around this time the wind was howling, the snow was falling around two or three inches an hour, there was thunder and lightning, it was terrifying... and awe-inspiring!

You may remember the post I put up with a picture taken at 310pm yesterday.  Well, here's a picture I took about a half-hour ago:

...and that's on the railing of my sheltered balcony.  The wind was coming from the north... my balcony is on the opposite side of the building.  Here's the view of Pond Central's parking lot, which is on the north side:

Yup.  The good news is that the snow seems to have stopped.  The Duckford International Airport is saying "only" 13.5 inches of snow fell overnight, but there are reports of 17 and 20 inches in other parts of the city.  Some rural roads have 12 foot drifts over them.  Hundreds of cars have been reported to be stuck on the various highways and streets near Duckford.  Most roads, both in and out of the city, are reported to be impassable.  Duck U is closed today, of course.

This is supposed to be the fourth-heaviest snowfall in Duckford recorded history.  Now comes the shoveling.

UPDATE @ 1242pm: Snowdrifts up to my waist.  Took four men with shovels a half-hour to dig my car out.  Once my car was done, we moved on to the car of one of the other guys.  Then we did the car of a teenage girl who needed to go to work (and helped push her out, too... the snow drifted high under her car).  Then I moved my car to a different spot at the far end of the lot, right next to the place the snowplow will start his snow-moving efforts... which means I won't have a four foot pile of snow to deal with in the morning!  Just negative temps...

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Snowmageddon 2011: 2/1, 310pm

The Anatidae Weather Service in Duckford, IL, has declared a Snowmageddon for Pond Central and the surrounding environs.  Expected from this Snowmageddon is 12-18 inches of snow.  Winds blowing from the north at 20 to 30 mph, with gusts of up to 45mph, will create blizzard conditions for much of the Snowmageddon area.  Thundersnow may occur, with increased snowfall rates of up to four inches per hour may happen during these storms, with near zero visibility.  Travel is greatly discouraged.  Duck U has closed for the day.  All night classes and evening events have been canceled.  As of yet, there has not been an announcement as to when it will reopen.

The above picture was taken at 310pm, Pond Central time.  We will update as events warrant.  This Snowmageddon is dangerous and potentially life-threatening if you're stupid enough to go out in it... so don't do it.

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Just An Old 'Shop I Did...

I slapped this together a few years back for a FARK photoshop contest.  If I remember correctly, it got more than a few votes for reasons that escape me to this day.  Maybe there were a lot of Kanon '06 fans reading, I dunno.  What the heck, I liked it.

To be honest, this is just here because I can't drum up the energy to post something worthwhile.  We're still crazy-go-nuts at the Duck U. Bookstore, though that'll slow down starting Tuesday.  Hopefully soon, there will be content.

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TGB S16E01

Over the past few years, I have watched dozens of episodes of the British motoring show Top Gear.  I can't say how many exactly, but I do believe I've seen every episode since Season 7.  Each season tends to be somewhere between six and eight episodes long, plus one or two specials each calendar year.  One thing I've noticed (and been amused by) during the viewing of all of these shows is that, during the News and the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car segments, the producer tends to put at least one very good looking woman in the front row, in clear camera shot.  I've come to call this young lady the "Top Gear Babe," or TGB. 

To show the producer that their efforts are not unappreciated, I've decided that for the 16th season, which began today, I'm going to post the TGB after I've watched the episode.  Without further ado, here's is Season 16, Episode 01's TGB!

At the end of the season, I might decide to crown a TGB Queen.  We'll see how it goes, and if I remember.

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Bears Lose... Darnit

On the one hand, if you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Bears would be playing in the NFC Championship game with a decent chance of making it to the Super Bowl, I would have thought you were nuts.  So this was a great season, right?  Right.

On the other hand, the Bears were playing in the NFC Championship game with a decent chance of making it to the Super Bowl, and they lost.  So it's a bad outcome, right?  Right?

But to lose it to the Green Bay Packers?  Having to see Virginia McCaskey, the eldest daughter of the legendary George Halas, handing the George Halas Trophy, given to the NFC Champions, to the hated Packers?  Agony, sheer agony.

Even the unprecedented appearance of The Librarian at Pond Central on a weekend to watch the game doesn't make it any better...

Darn it.  Darn it to heck.  Hope the cheese melts.

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Sirius/XM Major Fail

As I sit here browsing the intarwebz, I've got Sirius/XM tuned in on my Dish Network receiver, specifically channel 6022, "Sirius 1st Wave."  That channel plays "alternative" music, ostensibly from the '70s and '80s, but it's more like '80s and early '90s... but I digress.  Anyway, the music this channel plays is exactly what I listened to growing up as a young duckling at the Old Home Pond.

On Friday nights, the show on 1st Wave is "Party 360," hosted by one Dave Kendall.  Mr Kendall just did a promo for another Sirius/XM channel that I didn't catch the name of.  I wish I had, however, as, according to Mr Kendall, it's a Nascar-themed show.  That's mildly interesting in and of itself, but what he said after that really blew my mind:

"...it's three hours of NASCAR talk, hosted by the legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Senior."

Unless they really do have Dale Earnhardt Senior, in which case it's an epic win...

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Days Like This...

...make me wonder why I enjoy working retail so much.

See, we're in the middle of Rush Week at the Duck U. Bookstore.  Classes started on Tuesday, and while we expected to be busy, we didn't expect to be this busy.  As in, "we've never done this amount of business during the Spring before, ever" busy.  Which is good.  Exhausting and painful on the knees and feet, but good.

And then, we got the phone call. 

The one from the PR department at the Home Office.  At 2pm on Wednesday.  The one that told us that the CEO of the company was going to be in town to be interviewed by a local TV station, and the interview was going to take place in the Duck U. Bookstore.  At 2pm on Thursday.

During the third day of Rush.

Cue panic PANIC!!!

We had to a) help the customers; 2) prettify the store; III) keep the store prettified.  During Rush Week, a time when it's hard enough to find the time to refold a t-shirt.  Now we had to:

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CV-1

In 1918, the Royal Navy commissioned the world's first ship to be easily recognizable as an aircraft carrier, the HMS Argus.  In 1922, the Imperial Japanese Navy commissioned the first ever ship designed and built as an aircraft carrier, the Hosho.  In between, the US Navy sent to sea the first of an unbroken line of carriers that led directly to today's nuclear-powered supercarriers. 

But on the face of it, the American carrier had a very odd beginning.

The USS Jupiter (AC-3) joined the fleet in 1913 as the first electric-drive ship in the US Navy.  A collier, her job was to provide underway replenishment to the fleet.  This task led to her most distinctive feature, the vertical towers, called kingposts, amidships.  These were structural supports for coaling booms, which would be lowered when a ship was alongside.  Coal would then be sent down the booms to the decks of the receiving vessel.

These kingposts proved to be one of the reasons she was selected to become the basis for the first US aircraft carrier.

more...

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The Seaplane Tender That Changed The World

After that headline, you're probably rolling your eyes... what seaplane tender changed the world?

That one... and I'm working on a ship profile on it.  I intended to have it up tonight, but it's not happening.  It will be up sometime Monday, as I've got the day off, so look forward to it!

(ps - no, this isn't a "name that ship" contest, I just wanted to put a teaser picture up, though if you want to take a shot, go ahead)

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My First Greenlight!

Over at FARK.com, I just got my first greenlight that wasn't a newsflash about a dead baseball broadcaster... in other words, my first real greenlight!  Of course, it's a topic near and dear to many of The Pond's readers: anime.  Or burlesque.  Both, really.

Here's the linky to the thread:

Five words you never thought you'd read: "This isn't cosplay, it's burlesque." (maybe Not safe for work-ish)

...and yes, I stole the link from Robert's weekly e-mail.  I feel no shame.

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Malaise

I find myself not terribly enthused in the Winter season of anime this time around.  Only three shows have been interesting enough for me to even bother watching the first episode: Rio Rainbow Gate, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka.  Only the last of those three made me sit up and take notice.  I'll admit to watching the second episode of RRG to see how bad it would be, and it sure didn't disappoint.  It was like watching one of those incredibly long coal trains go by, except the tracks lead right off the edge of a cliff and you're watching the cars go off one by one.  That's RRG, right there... a never-ending trainwreck of mammoth proportions.

If we're lucky.  If not, it'll just be tedious, boring and ugly.

Meanwhile, the first big event for the upcoming F1 season will be the debut of the new cars.  Unfortunately, we have to wait until the end of the month before Ferarri puts their 2011 steed on display.  That means we're reduced to stories about HWMNBN not being able to ski during the Red Team's annual winter media extravaganza because of a slight muscle tear.

...and his rollout of a new pornstar-grade mustache.  He Whose Mustache Must Not Be Named. 

At least I managed to accidentally come up with an idea for another WWII "What If...?" post.  Now I just have to make sure I don't scare it away, try and sneak up on it. 

Maybe it's just because of the long days at the Duck U. Bookstore.  Classes start on Tuesday, and we've been pretty busy the past couple-three weeks.  Or maybe the fire is going out on my need to blog.  Guess anything's possible.

Hope not, though.

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All Bets Are Off... Unfortunately

Back in 2007, my Chicago Bears were scheduled to have a playoff game against the New Orleans Saints.  Knowing that Ubu Roi was a fan of the Fleur-de-lis, I issued a challenge to that worthy blogger, with our respective blogs' front page as the prize.  If the Bears won, he'd have to put the legendary Bears' navy blue and orange on the top of Mahou Meido Meganekko, and if the Saints were victorious, I'd put the gold-and-black here on The Pond.  Ubu accepted the terms of the bet, and the first Anime Blog Football Throwdown was on.

After Saints rookie Reggie Bush scored a TD, taunting Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher in the process, the Bears defense wound up crushing the Saints under their cleats.  Ubu, ever a class act, wound up not just changing the blog header picture, but the entire theme of his blog.  Even the name changed to "Chicago Bears Meganekko."

Because of that show of sportsmanship, I've been something of an unofficial fan of the Saints ever since... as long as they weren't playing the Bears, that is.  When the Saints won the Super Bowl last year (in wonderful fashion, I might add), I was quite pleased... though nowhere near as happy as Ubu. 

It's been four years since then, and both the Saints and Bears made it into the NFC playoffs this season... and were pretty much scheduled to face each other in the second round.  The Bears, being the #2 seed would face the highest-seeded winner of the wild card games.  The Saints, despite being seeded #5, were almost certain to beat the #4 seeded NFC-West champion Seattle Seahawks... who managed to get into the playoffs with a 7-9 record.  Assuming the #6 Green Bay Packers would beat the #3 Philadelphia Eagles (quite likely, in my opinion), that'd put the Saints in Soldier Field next weekend.

I had already contacted Ubu regarding a return of the Anime Blog Football Throwdown, and he responded favorably.  Once again, our front pages were the prize.

And then the World Champion Saints went out and peed their game against the Seahawks right down the leg of their uniforms.  Forgetting how to play defense, they lost 41-36.  Well, to be fair the Bears lost to the 'Hawks early in the season, back before their offensive line learned how to block, so I guess the phrase "...on any given Sunday..." applies.  But gosh darn it, I was looking forward to the Saints vs Bears.

I'm sorry, Ubu... I really am.  With any luck, the Bears'll get the chance to avenge your fallen heroes next week... and we'll do so.

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